Super-Salty Lake Looks Like A Strawberry Milkshake

Photographed from above it looks like a pool of melty strawberry ice cream, but Lake Retba, which runs blood-red through Senegal, West Africa, gets its unusual colour from an unusually high salt content — up to 40 per cent in some parts!

Microbiologist Michael Danson says that the water gets its candy-coloured hue from the salt-loving organism Dunaliella salina (an algae). "They produce a red pigment that absorbs and uses the energy of sunlight to create more energy, turning the water pink," he told the Daily Mail.

To protect their skin from the harsh drying effects of the abundant mineral, salt collectors must first cover themselves in Shea butter before wading into the 3m deep lake. [DailyMail]

Image: Barcroft Media

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